Fairy tales surround and attract us since childhood: there, any miracles come true, heroes save the world, and good always defeats evil. But do we know what really lies behind our favorite magical stories? Where is the distant kingdom? Who is behind the images of Koshchei and Baba Yaga? How does a hut move on chicken legs and why does it need dead water to revive it? The famous philologist and folklorist V. Ya. Propp lifts the veil of secrecy and offers to understand how the meanings and archetypes of distant times were reflected in fairy tales.